Norwegian technical thrash-metal band from the town of Fredrikstad. Equinox was the first Norwegian metal act to get signed by a major record company. The band was started in January of 1987 by Skule (Stene, bass), Gim (Stene, guitars, vocals) and "Raggen" (Ragnar Westin, drums). They all came from a band named Rebellion. In 1988 they recruited Tommy Skaring as a second guitar-player. The band recorded a couple of demos in 1988 and 1989, before deciding to record their debut album themselves.  They had practically not even released the album before they got signed to BMG records, whom re-released 'Auf Wiedersehen' the same year. This debut album became quite successful for the band, and also the follow-up entitled 'The Way To Go' did well. But when their third album, called 'Xerox Success', hit the market, the times had changed, and the interest for the kind of music Equinox were playing was virtually non-existent. So the record contract with BMG was not renewed, and Raggen also quit during the same period. Jørn Wangsholm replaced him. Then the band had to fire Tommy, who subsequently was replaced by Espen Holm. In 1994 the band recorder their swansong, entitled 'Labyrinth', but shortly after the band crumbled.

AUF WIEDERSEHEN (1989) RCA/BMG

This is one of my all time favorite thrash albums. It just rips. From note one to the very end; awesome, killer, slightly technical thrash metal supreme! 'Auf Wiedersehen' has got to be one of the worlds best hidden treasures. If you ever find it anywhere, PICK IT UP!! You will never regret. This band will always be missed!

Killer tracks: Didn't you read; "From note one to the very end..."

THE WAY TO GO (1990) RCA/BMG

I remember my friend buying this on vinyl as a new release. We used to sit in his room and listen to records all the time, and when a band from Norway released a new album, we were always excited. And Equinox had already released a monster of a debut thrash album. So we were very eager to hear this one. But what has escaped my mind in all these years since I last heard it, was what this album actually sounds like. My memory of the album is a good one, but I still could not remember any particular song. This album also turned out to be the most difficult to get a hold of, but I finally scored an original copy, only a few months after getting a CDR. The music is still thrash metal, of course. And I can now see why I have forgotten most of the songs on the album. It's not to say that 'The Way To Go' is a bad album, but it lacks the killer tracks the debut held. If you mention the song 'House Of Wonder' from their debut, I can instantly hum or sing lines from this song. I cannot say the same about any of the tracks on this album. Still this is a hidden gem in the thrash metal world, and any thrash fan should buy this album if they find it. The song "Skrell" has Norwegian lyrics, and was also released on a 12" maxi-single that also included songs not on this album. Equinox also made a music-video for the track "Godamadog".

Killer tracks: Inner Self, Flower Power

XEROX SUCCESS (1991) RCA/BMG

1. Xerox Success

2. Souls At Zero

3. Lost Control

4. Jabbermouth

5. My Sweet TV

6. Now!

7. Slave To The Whim

8. Nothing At All

9. Damned

10. Succumb To The Law

Equinox were a fairly successful band by now. Their 3rd release was produced by Kevin Ridley, and was expected to sell bundles. 'Xerox Success' carries on where 'The Way To Go' left off. The two albums are in fact quite similar. There are some memorable tunes here as well, and man can these guys play! My only complaint is that the songwriting this time around seems to be a little more out of focus. The song 'Now!' was also released as a 12" maxi-single, but then with Norwegian title and lyrics, entitled 'NUH!'. It's all about drinking and partying, which is what these guys did a lot of at the time.

Killer tracks: Now!, Nothing At All

LABYRINTH (1994) PROGRESS

Uh, what happened here? One of my favorite bands totally loosing their way. 2 members are replaced with 1, and only the 2 brothers are left from the original line-up. A kind off jazz-influenced style, with acoustic parts, and almost no thrash left. Sad. And even more sad: a re-recorded version of 'Stop!' that sucks so bad, I'm lost for words. No, try digging up some of the older material first. This one's for the die hard fans only. "Poor Kelly" is a traditional blues tune.

Killer tracks: I don't like any of them

Founder Skule Stene emailed me, after finding this site. He was not very pleased. He didn't even introduce himself, and gave me a piece of his mind. Under the topic "What do you mean?", here's a translation of what he said:

"Sandlove", "millennium", "hope is green", "but", etc are thrash enough for most people..., "Time again", "labyrinth" and some others are arranged a bit heavier than earlier work. The fact that we were playing around with jazz on "angst" and straightened out "stop", and recorded a blues tune with Equinox-riffs we had jammed on for the past 20 years, isn't grounds enough to say that Equinox had wimped out! It's called progression. I talked to this dude who described both the acoustic tunes like this: "Can't by the life of me figure out how it's possible to disconnect the fuzzpedal and still sound so thrash!" It was the coolest thing he ever heard.

I'm sure you're such a narrow-minded metalhead, you even stopped liking Judas Prist, when you discovered Rob Halford being gay... All we others just have fun with it, the music still stands like a pole (sorry for the pun :-)                       greetings from Skule

Well, I mailed him back, thanking him for his "constructive" criticism. The answer I got then, was a bit more moderated Here's a shortened translation:

It' would be fun to stretch our wings again. But if we're gonna start playing live again, it has to be 100%, or it won't be Equinox.

Other than that, your site was cool, comprehensive and nice. Found it looking for references to Equinox (search for 'Xerox Success'). But my point was that you described 'Labyrinth' as if you've never listened through the entire record, but only the tunes you've heard on the radio (don't misunderstand :-), what I'm trying to say is that I didn't recognize the record as a whole, what you described was only the things local radio-stations like to play.

You're right about the taste-issue though, I myself listen much more to 'Labyrinth' then to 'Auf Wiedersehen'. Maybe because it's more to listen to on that record. 'Auf Wiedersehen' has been described as an alligator-army in a chicken farm, you can hardly say the same thing about 'Labyrinth'.

I'm currently working on an Equinox MP3-site, I'll let you know when I finish.         Skule

Well, it's good to hear that Equinox aren't completely dead! I might even give 'Labyrinth' an extra spin or 2!! :-)